Glover to Deliver 2015 Commencement Address May 2

04/20/2015

SUMTER - Morris College's Annual Baccalaureate Commencement Convocation will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at the Sumter County Civic Center, located at 700 West Liberty Street, Sumter, South Carolina. The commencement address will be delivered by Senator Maggie Wallace Glover.

Glover has earned widespread recognition for achieving a string of “firsts” in South Carolina. In 1983, the former schoolteacher became the first African-American woman elected to serve on the Florence District One School Board. In 1988, she ran as a Democrat and achieved another “first” as the first African-American woman elected from the Sixth Congressional District to the South Carolina House of Representatives. She served two terms in the House and in 1992, ran unopposed for a seat in the South Carolina Senate. This was a “first” too, as no political candidate in the state has gone unopposed in first bid for a legislative seat. So, when the South Carolina General Assembly convened in January 1993, she made history as the first African-American woman to serve in the South Carolina Senate and now, fifteen years into the new millennium, she is still the only black woman to have ever served in the state’s Senate.

Over her 17 years in the General Assembly, Senator Glover became an icon in the state as a voice for the poor, the elderly, women and children. She was an outspoken pioneer who was the primary or co-sponsor to well over 50 bills, many of which garnered national attention: i.e. the first proposed route for Interstate-73, Dr. King’s State Holiday and the Confederate flag. While there was much debate over a 38-year history of the Confederate flag in this state, Senator Glover is credited with introducing the first bill to ask for its removal. She, too, helped to enact South Carolina’s successful Education Lottery in 2001 and introduced the legislation that created the HOPE/LIFE Scholarship that allows many B-average students to benefit from the lottery. The number of African-American students receiving scholarships has significantly increased. Additionally she co-sponsored the legislation, which allocates more than $38 million annually in lottery funds to the states’ five Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). This is the first time in this state’s history that state funds were allocated to our private institutions: Allen, Benedict, Claflin, Morris and Voorhees.

1978-United States Army Commendation Medal-first and only soldier in her battalion to receive medal in conjunction with Honorable Discharge because of her outstanding performance and service as a US soldier from 1975-78.

1993- Senator Glover was presented the highest award a South Carolinian can receive, the Order of the Palmetto for her tireless efforts toward the advancement of all South Carolina citizens.

2004-Awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Morris College for outstanding achievements as a civil servant.

2004-Induction into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame: because her labor and talents earned her this distinction.

Presently, Glover serves as director of Developmental Improvement Programs and Special Activities at Morris College.

A native of Florence, South Carolina, she is the daughter of the late Fulton and the late Ethel Wallace. Glover earned a BS degree in English/Speech and Theatre Minor from Fayetteville State University and a Master of Education degree in Guidance and Counseling from Francis Marion University. She is mother to one daughter, Marisa Glover Jordan, and now grandmother to one grandson, William Chancellor Jordan, who is the absolute apple of her eye.